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[Raxx]

The topo knife is my primary method of detailing when doing polygonal modeling. Basically it only cuts the edges/faces of faces shared by the starting point/edge, with no chance whatsoever of unintentionally cutting what you don't intend to cut (such as stuff underneath). It allows for fast, precise placement of edges.

I uploaded a youtube vid of the XSI version of the tool a while back. Its delete tool also shows what I believe is the p/e dissolve feature that you requested earlier.

[/youtube]

I also show its usage a lot later on in my minotaur making-of video.

[/youtube]

[nemyax]

Basically it only cuts the edges/faces of faces shared by the starting point/edge, with no chance whatsoever of unintentionally cutting what you don't intend to cut (such as stuff underneath).

I see. But what about the existing slice-the-hell-through functionality for situations when you do need it?

Off topic: I couldn't find a "topo"-labeled tool in Mod Tool, but what you showed in the video looks like Add Edge.

[ronaldefarmer]

Topo knife would be very useful.

[neirao]

Topo knife would be very useful.

  yes!! very useful!! i like it!!

[Raxx]

Topo knife would be very useful.

  yes!! very useful!! i like it!!

Yup

Basically it only cuts the edges/faces of faces shared by the starting point/edge, with no chance whatsoever of unintentionally cutting what you don't intend to cut (such as stuff underneath).

I see. But what about the existing slice-the-hell-through functionality for situations when you do need it?

Off topic: I couldn't find a "topo"-labeled tool in Mod Tool, but what you showed in the video looks like Add Edge.

I never suggested it as a replacement. More like an addition as a separate tool or enhancement to the current Add Edge tool. In Mod Tool, it's called the Add Edge tool. I just called it topo knife because that's basically what I use it for.

[Steve]

Don't worry, I won't get rid of the existing cut tool when adding the topo knife

[nemyax]

So the tool is as good as a done deal then — very nice =)
For it to be as useful as XSI's, it should support fast select-style highlighting.

[Steve]

So the tool is as good as a done deal then — very nice =)

I don't know when I'll have it ready.

[Raxx]

A couple of differences between the old knife tool and the topo knife:

• With the current cut faces tool, turning off backfaces doesn't guarantee that you cut only what you see. There can be front-facing elements underneath that end up getting cut (this happens a *lot* with high detail objects). The constant fear of cutting things unintentionally and that fear constantly turning into reality is one reason why I hate using the cut faces tool for detailing.
• What I'm suggesting has faster precision and control of the placement of the cut. You click on the starting place, be it on an edge or on a point, and just click the next place and it makes the cut, then click the next place and it makes a cut from the previous end point to the new end point (this is a chain action--the difference is that you don't have to click on the previous point anymore). Also, the preview line snapping to points/edges makes this tool extremely easy to use for detailing.
• Mirrored mesh editing in Anim8or is a bit awful and buggy, more so when using the cut tool. But there's not much alternative. The topo knife would help mitigate unintentional cutting frustrations in this area.

[davdud101]

I actually just started using 3DS max for school and I se what a topo knife is. I guess I personally wouldn't need it as much then. It's is pretty weird using it with the mirror

[Steve]

I split this off from the previous topic it was in to make it easier to find. Oops, I missed a couple of comments though, and don't now how to add them ---

[Steve]

I just posted build 1205 with a Topo Knife tool in the Point Editor (short cut <k>). It works on Meshes and Subdivision objects. Left click and release on a point or an edge to start.  Then continue left-click/releasing on adjacent edges and points to make cuts.  Exit by right-clicking or selecting another tool.

[captaindrewi]

Great.working nicely

[Raxx]

Hey Steve, works great! I've been playing around with it and I have a few ideas that I think are the two main things a user would do as soon as they finish making their topo cuts. If it's already integrated into the tool then it'll make it extremely easy for beginners and experts alike to do box modeling.

• Since right-clicking doesn't do anything except terminate the action, how about making it into the move w/ fast select tool? Whenever the right-click-drag is done when no cutting has been initiated, it instead moves the highlighted element. Temporarily showing the move button pressed down during each move action using this tool might be a nice visual aid as well.
• When holding <shift> while left-clicking on an element, it dissolves that element (points and edges only). Meaning it deletes the point/edge and repairs the surrounding geometry accordingly. This is an important feature since after making cuts, repair work needs to happen a lot to keep a good polygonal flow going. Simply deleting the element forces the user to exit the tool to do the repair work manually (to delete points and add new edges and fill them), resulting in more than triple the amount of work.

Oh, and as side note, I think that it should create the point when you left click on the edge then right-click afterwards. This way people can add more edges to a face without exiting the tool.

Thanks a lot for the update Steve!

[nemyax]

The topo tool is broken in perspective view.